US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, who plans to pursue “bold diplomacy” to end the war in Ukraine. Rubio stated that there will have to be concessions made by both Russia and Ukraine to reach a resolution.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Western countries to use around $250bn of unallocated frozen Russian assets to buy Kyiv weapons. The US has also announced new sanctions on over 150 individuals and entities involved in Russia’s defence industry.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer traveled to Ukraine to meet with Zelenskyy, hailing a “closer than ever” partnership between the two countries. A partnership deal is expected to be signed, which will deepen the existing defense relationship and offer further military assistance to Kyiv.
Russia launched missiles and drones at Ukrainian energy facilities on Wednesday, prompting the Ukrainian air force to shoot down 30 of the missiles and 47 drones. The attack caused power cuts in the southern city of Kherson and damaged critical infrastructure facilities in other regions.
Poland scrambled fighter jets to secure its airspace after the barrage, but reported no violations. Europe must “take responsibility” for its own security, Poland’s Europe minister Adam Szłapka said, as Warsaw takes over the rotating presidency of the EU at a time of increasing geopolitical uncertainty.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/16/ukraine-war-briefing-us-house-speaker-dumps-key-ukraine-backer-mike-turner